Former pastor arrested 2nd time on sex charge

A former Kings Mountain pastor and religion professor has been arrested on allegations that he tried to solicit sex from an uncover police officer for the second time in two years.

Clinton Alexander Feemster, 60, of Gastonia faces charges of soliciting a crime against nature after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say he asked an undercover male officer for sex Oct. 26 at the Charlotte-Douglas International Airport overlook.

According to a warrant affidavit, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer E. Roman and four detectives went to the airport overlook for a sting operation. The overlook is known as a “meeting place for males interested in engaging in illegal public sexual acts,” according to the affidavit.

The overlook parking lot contained about a dozen cars. Families with children watched the planes land and take off from the runway. A steady flow of vehicles arrived and left the overlook around 3 p.m. when an undercover officer was approached.

Roman sat in his vehicle for about five minutes before a white Ford Ranger pickup pulled up on the driver side, according to the warrant.

Feemster asked the undercover officer to talk with him at the picnic tables on the overlook grounds. Feemster offered to engage in a sex act with Officer Roman in a public location, according to the affidavit.

Feemster agreed to follow the officer to another location. He was not arrested at the overlook because Feemster left the area before a marked police car could stop him.

Another detective, who arrested and charged Feemster with soliciting crimes against nature last year, recognized Feemster when the former professor passed him while driving on Old Dowd Road.

This isn’t the first time Feemster has been accused of soliciting a male police officer for sex.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said that Feemster asked an officer for oral sex in February 2011. Five months later, a judge found Feemster not guilty of soliciting sex. Supporters rallied around the former pastor when he was accused.

Charles Turner, pastor of Mount Pisgah Baptist Church near Bessemer City, told Gazette news partner WSOC TV that Feemster had stepped away from the leadership roles he held at the church after being accused.

“I’m saddened by the allegations,” Turner said.

Turner said he didn’t believe the police account of what happened and didn’t believe a crime took place because Feemster was not arrested on site.

Feemster was the pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Kings Mountain and director of the Pittman Center for Congregational Enrichment at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs. The church and university both placed Feemster on leave after he was arrested. He had worked at Gardner-Webb since 2004, but resigned shortly after the allegations surfaced. Feemster retired from Mount Zion Baptist Church in August 2011. He’d been at the church for around 20 years.

Feemster is scheduled to appear in Mecklenburg County District Court Nov. 27 for the solicitation charge. Feemster did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

You can reach reporter Amanda Memrick at 704-869-1839 or follow @AmandaMemrick on Twitter.